Search for missing hiking expert called off as rescuers recover body

Rescue workers on Mount Rainier in Seattle, Washington, have called off their three-day search after retrieving the body of an unidentified female. Karen Sykes (pictured above, right), a well-known, 70-year-old outdoors writer, hasn’t been seen since she separated from her hiking partner on the mountain last Wednesday. The National Park Service said six ground crews, including two dog teams, had combed an expanded search area near the Owyhigh Lakes Trail on Rainier’s east side. Rescuers also searched by air.

She’s the last person anyone would expect to get lost, particularly on Mount Rainier.

Greg Johnston, a former outdoors writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold said that the remains were found off the trail near Boundary Creek in rough, steep terrain—an area difficult to access and not commonly travelled. Sykes had written numerous hiking stories for online publications and newspapers. She was also a photographer and had written a book about hikes in western Washington.